Coupler carrier arrangement

ABSTRACT

A railway car coupler flexible carrier in which the retainer plate for limiting upward movement of the carrier is held between a pair of horizontal flanges and is bolted or riveted thereto. One of the flanges is integral with the supporting structure and the other flange is on a separate member which first is positioned with the flange in engagement with the retainer plate and is then welded to the supporting structure.

United States Patent [191 DePenti Aug. 21, 1973 COUPLER CARRIER ARRANGEMENT [75] Inventor: Kenneth Louis DePenti, Mayfield Heights, Ohio [73] Assignee: Midland-Ross Corporation,

Cleveland, Ohio [22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1972 [211 App]. No.: 237,635

[52] U.S. Cl. 213/61 [51] Int. Cl. 861g 7/12, B6lg 9/22 [58] Field of Search 213/20, 21, 60, 61

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,680,526 6/1954 Kayler 213/61 2,718,968 9/1955 Metzger 213/61 2,806,612 9/1957 Couch 213/61 2,812,074 11/1957 Blattner 213/61 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Artomey-Henry Kozak 5 7] ABSTRACT A railway car coupler flexible carrier in which the retainer plate for limiting upward movement of the carrier is held between a pair of horizontal flanges and is bolted or riveted thereto. One of the flanges is integral with the supporting structure and the other flange is on a separate member which first is positioned with the flange in engagement with the retainer plate and is then welded to the supporting structure.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 COUPLER CARRIER ARRANGEMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The car coupler flexible carrier arrangement for supporting the AAR Type F Interlocking coupler employs a carrier retainer in the form of a flat rectangular plate that extends inwardly through a slot in a sidewall of a striking casting and is secured by means of a rivet to the underside of a horizontal flange extending outwardly from the sidewall. The portion of the retainer plate that extends inwardly of the sidewall provides stop means for limiting upward movement of the spring supported coupler carrier. In service the coupler has an up and down movement and consequently the inwardly extending portion of the retainer plate is subjected to recurring upward impacts by the coupler carrier. This action produces a tensile stress in the rivet and often has resulted in loosening of the retainer plate and subsequent fracturing of the rivet and loss of the plate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the loosening of the carrier retainer plate by the provision of a support for underside of the portion of the retainer plate that is in contact with the horizontal flange on the sidewall of the striking casting. Preferably a simple angle iron is positioned with one leg thereof in engagement with the underside of the retainer plate, after which the angle iron is secured to the striking casting by means of a weld. Thus the retainer plate is firmly held between the horizontal flange of the striking casting and the leg of the angle iron. A bolt or rivet passing through the horizontal flange, plate, and leg of the angle iron secures the plate against lengthwise movement. This manner of securement of the retainer plate to the striking casting relieves the bolt or rivet of tension forces to which the rivet in existing constructions is subjected and thereby precludes loosening and loss of the plate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional coupler supporting structure to which the invention has been applied;

FIG. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view showing the prior art construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, the striking casting comprises a horizontal top portion 12 that is integral with vertical sidewalls 14, which at their lower ends are joined with a transverse spring carrying pocket section 16. Portion l2, walls 14, and pocket 16 form a rectangular coupler shank receiving opening 18. A hollow coupler carrier member 20 is received within pocket 16 and is supported on springs 22 which bear against the bottom wall 22a of the pocket. The upper end of the carrier 20 comprises a flat coupler supporting portion 200 extending between walls 14. A coupler shank 24 is shown resting on the carrier. As is well known in the art, the shank is pivotally mounted for both horizontal and vertical angling. At each end of the carrier there is provided a top lug and a bottom lug 32, each of which extends laterally from the endwall 20b. Received between lugs 30 and 32 is the inner end 40a of a retainer plate 40 which extends through a slot 42 in sidewall 14. Plate 40 is in engagement with the underside of horizontal flange 44 which extends outwardly from wall 14.

In accordance with the invention, an angle iron 46 is positioned with its horizontal flange or leg 46a in tight engagement with the underside of retainer plate 40 and with its other leg 46b in engagement with wall 14. Angle iron 46 is then welded to wall 14 along the vertical edges and along the bottom edge of leg 46b, as indicated at x in FIG. 3. In this manner, the outer end of plate 40 is held firmly between flange 44 and leg 46a and is suitably secured thereto against lengthwise movement by a bolt or rivet 50. Carrier support springs 22 are under sufficient initial compression to maintain lower lugs 32 of the carrier member in engagement with the inner portion 40a of the retainer plates, even with the coupler supported on the carrier, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. In train service the irregularities in the track and train action cause the coupler to move downwards from the position shown, which moves lugs 32 out of engagement with retainer plates 40. As the lugs move back into engagement with plates 40 in response to upward return movement of the coupler, an impact occurs, its intensity depending on the speed at which the coupler is displaced upwardly. Thus a continual pounding of carrier lugs 32 against plates 40 will occur in service. It will be apparent that angle iron 46 in contact with the underside of plate 40 will securely hold the plate in position shown, thereby protecting rivet 50 against tensile stresses that would be applied to the rivet if the angle iron were not present.

In the event the retainer plate 40 for some reason needs to be replaced, rivet 50 is first removed and the plate is extracted without disturbing angle iron 46. A new plate is next inserted and secured by a new rivet or bolt.

In the existing prior art arrangements as seen in FIG. 4, the lower rivet head 50a bears directly against the retainer plate. The constant pounding of lug 32 against the retainer plate subjects the rivet to a tensile stress which has resulted in breakage of the rivet and loss of v the retainer plates. The present invention very simply and efficiently eliminates this shortcoming in the existing constructions.

What is claimed is:

1. In a car coupler support comprising a striking casting having a coupler shank receiving opening, said casting comprising spaced apart vertical sidewalls, the lower ends of said walls being joined by a transverse spring carrying pocket for receiving a coupler carrier member, a carrier member in said pocket and being vertically movable, spring means in said pocket for supporting said member, each sidewall having an outwardly extending flange adjacent said pocket and an opening directly beneath said flange, a retainer plate extending through said opening into said pocket, the end of said plate within said pocket serving as abutment means for engagement with said member to limit upward movement of the member, the outer end of said plate underlying said flange and being in engagement therewith, the improvement comprising a support member having a portion in engagement with the underside of the outer end of said plate and having another portion in engagement with the outer side of said sidewall.

3. A car coupler support in accordance with claim 1 in which said support member is L-shaped and has one leg thereof in engagement with the underside of the outer end of said plate and the other leg thereof is welded to said sidewall. 

1. In a car coupler support comprising a striking casting having a coupler shank receiving opening, said casting comprising spaced apart vertical sidewalls, the lower ends of said walls being joined by a transverse spring carrying pocket for receiving a coupler carrier member, a carrier member in said pocket and being vertically movable, spring means in said pocket for supporting said member, each sidewall having an outwardly extending flange adjacent said pocket and an opening directly beneath said flange, a retainer plate extending through said opening into said pocket, the end of said plate within said pocket serving as abutment means for engagement with said member to limit upward movement of the member, the outer end of said plate underlying said flange and being in engagement therewith, the improvement comprising a support member having a portion in engagement with the underside of the outer end of said plate and having another portion in engagement with the outer side of said sidewall and secured thereto, and means for securing said plate to said flange and said fist-named portion to preclude movement of the plate outwardly relative to said pocket.
 2. A car coupler support according to claim 1 in which said support member comprises a horizontal flange in engagement with the underside of the outer end of said plate and a vertical portion welded to said sidewall.
 3. A car coupler support in accordance with claim 1 in which said support member is L-shaped and has one leg thereof in engagement with the underside of the outer end of said plate and the other leg thereof is welded to said sidewall. 